European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 11,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7air Force probe targets Northrop mismanagement poor production cited the Washington Post Washington a top air Force officials have charged that Northrop corp., which builds the b-2 a a stealth bomber and other expensive weapon systems is so poorly managed that it cannot account for the Cost of Many programs and has suffered major breakdowns in the production of every weapon the service reviewed. Air Force investigators in a report made Public tuesday said Northrop a management of major weapons systems was so chaotic that the design team working on the engine of the b-2 bomber failed to notify the planets structural teams of significant changes that could dramatically affect the unusual crafts Airframe. Military authorities also criticized the los Angeles based company for failure to properly manage relations with its hundreds of subcontractors and for serious problems in moving weapons from Laboratory development to production. While the troubled defense firm is the subject of at least seven grand jury probes and 11 criminal investigations the air Force probe of its management and business practices is the first time the military service has openly criticized the company that is building some of the air forces most favored weapon systems. The air Force review was initiated partly As a result of those previous investigations officials said. A we saw the same sort of problems in each of the programs we looked at a Brig. Gen. Robert w. Drewes who headed the Northrop investigation for the air Force told the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce panel tuesday. A a it a not something to be proud  Drewes said the problems permeated two expensive projects for which Northrop is the prime contractor a the b-2 and the tacit Rainbow anti radar missile a and components for two other weapons a a major new electronic jamming system for the f-15 fighter and the guidance system for the my intercontinental ballistic missile. Drewes said there Are problems with numerous secret programs Northrop is engaged in for the Pentagon. Despite the problems the air Force continues to pour billions of dollars into Northrop for the programs. Members of Congress wrestling with defense budget controversies that have entered on the $62.8 billion b-2 program and other costly weapons described the review As a a devastating and said it chronicled a the collapse of every aspect of Northrop  Northrop spokesman Tony Cantafio noting that the air Force said the company had begun to make improvements in some areas said the corporations management a will make the changes endure and carry out in other areas of the  he added a we still have things to do but the recognition that changes have been made is a favourable indication of the direction the company is  rep. Ron Wyden d-ore., who chaired tuesdays committee hearing said the report demonstrated a How one of their favored contractors has screwed up virtually every major air Force weapons system entrusted to  Drewes described Northrop As a company which grew so rapidly a from a $1.6 billion corporation in 1980 to a $6 billion firm in 1987 a that its senior executives failed to develop proper internal controls Over personnel equipment and ballooning defense contracts. At the same time Drewes noted that the company was Rushing into contracts involving sophisticated military technology at a time when it had Little experience As a prime contractor. The air Force team blamed Many of the problems on the a a culture of a firm which tended to meet its expanding divisions by promoting from within even though its employees May not have been the most qualified to handle the programs and by allowing the company to develop As a Loose federation of autonomous divisions with a no or Little corporate  the company a leadership was overwhelmed with a too much too fast a and provided virtually no training for employees pushed into High management positions the air Force reported. Last year the Pentagon awarded Northrop corp. $631 million in contracts making it the nations 30th largest defense contractor. The company employs about 40,000 people nationwide. Findings from the air Force probe which was conducted this summer include a the company has been unable to provide accurate Cost and schedule estimates for its weapons programs because of Lack of internal controls and poor management practices. A aj1 the programs reviewed faced major difficulties in moving from drawing boards and research laboratories to the factory and Assembly Sites. A Northrop is a poor manager of its numerous subcontractors frequently making design changes in programs without notifying subcontractors that provide key components. A the firm has serious problems coordinating its systems engineering teams which design and develop different parts of the same weapons system such As those that build engines and b-2 bomber , jury choices dominate obscenity trial fort Lauderdale Fla. Apr prosecutors in the obscenity trial of rap group 2 live Crew failed tuesday to have the judge dismissed because a defense lawyer was her Law professor 15 years ago. Luther Campbell Chris Wong won and Mark Ross face Misdemeanour charges stemming from a june 11 adults Only performance at a nightclub in nearby Hollywood. If convicted the Miami based rappers could be sentenced to up to a year in jail and fined $1,000. The first two Days of the trial were devoted mainly to motions and challenges Over jury selection. Defense attorney Bruce Rogow challenged Broward county a voter based jury Pool As unconstitutional in cases that depend on Community standards such As obscenity. But Broward county judge june Johnson said she wanted to see the entire 70-person Pool before ruling on the motion. Prosecutors on monday asked the judge to step Down noting that Rogow taught her Law at nearby Nova University in the mid-1970s. Johnson refused saying she lost touch with Rogow after the class. Prosecutors appealed the decision before circuit judge George Brescher. He denied the Challenge tuesday saying the motion lacked a required document and was filed too late. A i think what the state has done is try. To interfere with this Case getting to trial a 2 live Crews Luther Campbell gets a hug from fan Iraida Benitez. Rogow said. A this was utterly frivolous Ana i think in bad  Rogow also represented Charles Freeman a Black record store owner convicted of obscenity last week by an Allwhite jury for Selling the groups album a was Nasty As they Wanna  a six member panel is to be chosen from 70 prospects requested by the judge. No jurors were selected by the end of tuesdays session although about 25 were questioned. Jury selection is expected to take several Days. Only three of 25 potential jurors questioned monday and Early tuesday were Black. Music by the Black group is aimed principally at a Young Black audience. Jury composition is particularly sensitive because obscenity cases arc decided on the basis of How the panel defines Community standards. The album which . District judge Jose Gonzalez earlier ruled obscene has sold about 2 million copies. Most obscenity cases Are argued on the . Supreme courts Miller v. California test. Essentially it holds that material is obscene if the average person applying contemporary local Community standards would find that it is designed to cause sexual arousal if it depicts sex in a patently offensive Way and if taken As a whole lacks serious literary artistic political or scientific  Fri agent convicted again of spying los Angeles apr former Fri agent Richard Miller was convicted of espionage tuesday for a second time by a judge who rejected his claim that he romanced a soviet agent in the interest of the United states. . District judge Robert Takasugi said he concluded that Miller once intended to use his relationship with the soviet woman Svetlana Ogorodnikova to enhance his position with the Fri by becoming a double agent. But the judge said that after Ogorodnikova enticed Miller with Money and sex the agent yielded to her demands for classified information. Takasugi who presided Over Millers retrial without a jury said the most convincing evidence was an Fri tape recording of Miller and Ogorodnikova in a private conversation. He said the tape clearly demonstrated her domination Over the agent. A the court does find Miller guilty of counts one through six a the judge said of the six charges that alleged espionage conspiracy and communication of classified material for the Benefit of a foreign Power. Miller faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The judge allowed him to remain free on bail and scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7. The trial was Millers third. The jury in his first trial deadlocked and the guilty verdict in his second trial was overturned by an appeals court. Miller has already served five years in Federal prison. As in both other trials the defense argued that the obese inept Miller was far from the classic picture of an Fri agent and that his failings led him to try to save his career by infiltrating the soviet Kab. Miller was arrested in september 1984. The Fri claimed he had been about to flee the country with Ogorodnikova after passing her a classified Fri document entitled a the positive intelligence reporting  Ogorodnikova who pleaded guilty and is serving an 18-year sentence in a Federal prison did no to testify. Prosecutors maintained that Miller was vulnerable because his marriage was falling apart he was Short of Money and was being threatened with dismissal by the Fri because of his obesity